Fade to Black
by sashsweetie
Summary: House sends Cameron to check on Thirteen, resulting in an unlikely friendship and more. But how will their relationship unfold? Are they strong enough to withstand the events they go through together? Cam/Thirteen.
1. Happy Birthday to Me

Thirteen fiddled clumsily with her key as she tried to fit it into the lock. "Happy Birthday to me…Happy Birthday to me…" she murmured drunkenly, sadistically. Sighing, she leaned against the door in an attempt to reconvene her double vision into a single image. "Woah!" She stumbled, falling inwards as her apartment door jerked open unexpectedly from the inside. "Who…?" She groaned from the floor, peering up at the person in the dim light, too drunk to even be afraid.

"It's Cameron." The voice sighed, taking her hands and helping her up. "House thought you were going to do something stupid and sent me over" she explained as she helped Thirteen to the couch. "He gave me his key, but you weren't here and I don't know what bars you go to or anything so I waited." She blushed. "I probably should have just left, huh?"

Thirteen shook her head as Cameron took a seat beside her on the couch. "Thank you for waiting." She looked down at the floor. Even in her drunken state she was incredibly embarrassed. "It was kind of you."

Cameron shrugged. "No worries. I've done stupid things when I had work the next day so I know how you feel." She thought back to her evening of meth and Chase.

Thirteen eyed her, surprised. "What'd you do?" she slurred.

Cameron figured she might as well be honest. The other woman probably wouldn't remember in the morning and even if she did, Cameron doubted she'd spread it around. "Thought I might have HIV, got high on meth and slept with Chase."

Thirteen chuckled. "Nice."

"What time is it?" Cameron questioned. Thirteen stuck out the arm that had her watch on it in the other woman's direction. Cameron grasped her wrist gently and turned it so the light hit the watch face. Thirteen shivered at the contact. "Cold?" Cameron asked, looking up at her with green eyes.

Thirteen shook her head slowly. "No."

Cameron smiled. "You didn't do too badly. It's only one." She examined Thirteen carefully. "It was your birthday, right?"

Thirteen nodded, swallowing. "Yeah."

"Why go on a bender all alone on your birthday?" Cameron asked. "Not that it's my business."

Thirteen shrugged. "Why not?" She watched as Cameron headed into her kitchen, grabbing two glasses from the rack and filling them both with water.

"Most people hang out with friends on their birthdays." Cameron handed her one of the glasses, sipping from her own as she sat back down.

Thirteen rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm not most people." She sipped tentatively from the glass.

Cameron smiled at that. "That's okay, me neither. I never really made friends at work."

"Yeah." Thirteen was a little uncomfortable with the personal nature of Cameron's questions. "So why'd House ask you to come?" she redirected the conversation.

"He knows he can get me to do stuff." Cameron smirked. "Apparently I _care_ about other human beings or something crazy like that." She glanced at Thirteen, who grinned slightly in return.

"I've heard that rumour about you."

"Only House would consider it a defect." Cameron joked, leaning back against Thirteen's couch cushions and yawning. "I should probably get going. You'll be alright?"

Thirteen nodded. "Thanks again for coming." She stood as Cameron did, walking her to the door.

"No worries." Cameron pulled on her shoes. "See you tomorrow." She headed out Thirteen's front door towards her car. Thirteen shut the door behind her, locking it and aiming for her bedroom, not even bothering to turn out the lights.

She woke several hours later, still clothed, to the sound of her alarm going off. Groaning, she rolled off the bed to climb into the shower, wincing at the shooting pain that went through her skull as she stood up. Grabbing the still-full glass of water from the living room table, she chugged it on her way to the bathroom.

A little later that morning, she headed up to Diagnostics feeling a little better thanks to the several glasses of water and two Tylenol she had taken before making it to work. Now she was just looking forward to a nice mug of coffee. Seeing that Taub was already there, preparing to make coffee, she literally bolted into the room. "How many times do I have to tell you that you can't make coffee?" she demanded, exasperated.

"Oh, you're here!" he said with relief, handing the job over to her happily. A few minutes later they were both sitting at the table with Kutner, enjoying a few minutes of peace with steaming mugs of strong coffee before House barged in on them.

"You look…not hung over." House eyed her suspiciously as he entered the room, chucking several files on the desk.

"Is that bad? Unexpected?" Thirteen questioned him sarcastically, a grin gracing her lips. House shrugged and gestured to the files. Thirteen grabbed one and started flipping through it.

Cameron saw the dark brown ponytail in the cafeteria and headed over. "Mind if I join you?" she asked Thirteen, who was munching a cookie pensively. Thirteen gestured to the chair beside her and Cameron took a seat gratefully. The place was packed. She removed the lid from her coffee and blew on it before taking a sip.

"House was pretty surprised I wasn't hung over this morning." Thirteen commented wryly.

"You'd think he'd have more faith in his own judgement of character." Cameron's eyes twinkled over the rim of her coffee cup.

Thirteen grinned. "I know, right?" she didn't object as Cameron reached over and snapped off a piece of her cookie.

Foreman sat down a few minutes later, surprised to find the two women at the same table. "How are the blood tests coming?" he asked Thirteen, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Hi to you too." She replied in amusement. "Kutner and Taub are doing them, so I came to get coffee."

"You hate cafeteria coffee." Foreman commented. Cameron raised her eyebrows.

"I wanted a cookie." Thirteen broke off another piece and pushed it towards Cameron, who smiled, taking a bit more.

Foreman just looked confused as his two female co-workers, who had never appeared friendly before, shared a chocolate chip cookie and smiles.

"Cameron!"

Cameron turned to see Foreman jogging down the hall after her. "Yes?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's the deal with you and Thirteen?" he stopped in front of her.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "We discovered female bonding." She replied sarcastically then sighed at his expression. "We sat at the same table in the cafeteria and apparently both like chocolate chip cookies. I wouldn't read too much into it." She turned and walked away, leaving a still-confused Foreman in her wake.

Still, the ER doctor found herself thinking about the brunette who had taken her place on House's team. She had always considered her prickly, but she wasn't really, in the end. She just liked her privacy and had a dry sense of humour, not unlike herself. Cameron sighed and continued to work her way through her shift.


	2. The Way We Get By

"Hey."

Cameron looked up from her patient file and into a set of blue eyes and smiled. "Hi." She replied, grabbing her mug of coffee.

"Mind if I join?" Thirteen gestured to the table. Cameron swept her gaze briefly around the empty lounge. It was 1 am.

"Not at all." It had been a few weeks since she'd last run into the younger doctor, and Thirteen was obviously making an effort to be sociable.

"Busy couple of weeks." Thirteen commented, taking a gulp of her own coffee.

Cameron nodded. No reason to mention her break-up with Chase if the other doctor wasn't going to bring it up. "Yeah." She murmured. Hers had been filled with finding a new apartment, packing, moving, work. She was surprised she'd found the time to sleep. She felt Thirteen's gaze on her and looked up from her mug. "What?"

Thirteen smiled and shook her head. "Nothing." She kept drinking her coffee. Cameron sighed and continued her charting. It was possible she could head home soon if she got this done and there were no last minute emergencies in the ER.

"What time are you done?" she yawned widely as she questioned the other woman.

Thirteen shrugged. "Depends on House. I don't think the patient will be dead by the morning, so I'm considering ditching out. If House is home asleep, it can't be too serious." Cameron nodded. She knew the feeling well. Thirteen finished her coffee and stood. "I'll see you around." she headed towards the door.

"That would be nice." Cameron commented benignly.

Thirteen paused. "And let me know if I can do anything, won't you?" she walked out of the lounge, closing the door behind her.

Cameron turned to stare after her momentarily. Apparently the brunette had a knack for last minute bombshells. Shaking her head, she turned back to her chart, knowing she'd never take Thirteen up on her offer.

***

It was a few nights later when Thirteen confronted her in the locker room. "I'm coming over." She announced.

Cameron raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Well, you aren't taking me up on my offer, and one good turn deserves another. You must have a bunch of stuff to unpack." Cameron nodded reluctantly. She did have a lot to get done. "Come on." Thirteen wheedled. "We'll order pizza, have some beer. It'll be good."

Cameron examined her momentarily. "Alright."

"Cool." Thirteen grinned. "I'll follow you." The brunette slung a bag over her shoulder and picked up her helmet.

"Scooter?" Cameron had heard the comments. Thirteen nodded. Cameron smiled. "Let's go." she turned and headed out of the room with the younger doctor in tow.

Not long afterwards, they were opening bottles of beer in Cameron's new kitchen with pizza on the way. "Well, at least you've got furniture." Thirteen joked as they surveyed the plethora of boxes scattered across the living room.

Cameron snorted. "Yeah. And I've been ordering in food for a week because I haven't had time to buy groceries or find my cooking stuff."

Thirteen slid her gaze sideways to the other woman. "One of the joys of spur-of–the-moment moving, I guess." Cameron nodded and took a sip of her beer. "So where do you want to start?" Thirteen questioned.

Cameron pondered the question a moment. "How about the living room? That way I might actually feel like I live here." She rolled her eyes.

"Cool." Thirteen headed out into the aforementioned room, crouching down beside a box and ripping the tape off. Cameron did the same with the box next to her, starting to pull things out of it and unwrap them. "Pictures?" Thirteen asked, holding up one of Cameron and her deceased husband.

"Um..." Cameron looked around the room. "Over there." She pointed to a bookshelf under the window.

Thirteen took a minute to actually look at the picture she was holding as she put it down. "Is this from prom?" she questioned.

Cameron looked over at the photo fondly. "No. That was my wedding day." Thirteen was dumbstruck. Cameron looked at the expression she was wearing and chuckled. "I take it House never mentioned that to you." Thirteen shook her head silently. "My husband passed away." Cameron explained, her voice quiet and sad.

"Oh." Thirteen murmured, looking again at the photo. "I'm sorry."

Cameron smiled gently. "Me too." She went back to unwrapping items from her box and placing them on the coffee table.

Recognising the conversation was over, Thirteen made her way back over to the box of photographs, pulling another one out. She grinned as she looked at it. "Cheerleader?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Cameron.

Cameron blushed profusely. "Oh, God."

Thirteen chuckled. "You must have been popular with the boys" she joked, putting it down beside her and going for another one. Luckily at that point the doorbell rung, announcing the arrival of the pizza. Cameron basically bolted for it before Thirteen could find another embarrassing picture of her, leaving Thirteen giggling over Cameron dressed up as Dorothy for Hallowe'en when she was 10.

"Pizza?" Cameron put the box down on the coffee table in the hope of luring Thirteen away from the box of photographs.

"Oh, but this is so much fun!" Thirteen grinned at her. Cameron looked distinctly disgruntled, so she laughed and moved over to the table with her beer. "Relax, Cameron. You were a cute kid. I love seeing other people's photos."

Cameron took a bite of her pizza. "Thanks for doing this. It's way better with someone else here." She looked up at Thirteen shyly.

Thirteen shrugged. "No worries." She grabbed a piece of pizza. "This way I get to see all of your pictures." She grinned.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Be careful, or I'll move you to another box." She joked. "Want another beer?" she stood to head into the kitchen.

"Please." Thirteen nodded. "This is good pizza." She commented.

"I love this place." Cameron agreed. "I haven't ordered from it in ages."

A few hours later they'd made their way through the boxes in Cameron's living room and were sitting on the couch, slightly buzzed, enjoying their beer.

"Thanks again." Cameron smiled over at her co-worker. "This would have taken me days by myself. I get so bored."

Thirteen waved off her gratitude. "It was fun, to be honest."

Cameron raised her eyebrows. "I never thought of unpacking boxes as a fun after-work activity."

"That's because it's your stuff." Thirteen explained. "But other people's stuff tells you a lot about them."

"Oh?" Cameron wiggled her eyebrows. "And what would I find at your place?"

"Nothing overly interesting."

"Really? Or is that just because it's your stuff?"

"Ummm, no…it's just really not that interesting."

"Huh." Cameron took another swig of her beer. "Bet it would be to me."

Thirteen shook her head. "I don't really have pictures or mementos or anything. My place is pretty much just the essentials."

"Well, that says something about you." Cameron pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess it does." Thirteen agreed. She looked at her watch. "I should get going soon."

Cameron nodded. "I work early tomorrow too."

Thirteen turned to her, a slight smile on her face. "Listen. You're fun to hang out with. We should go do something sometime when we don't have to work the next day. Go for drinks or something."

Cameron nodded. "I'd like that." She looked around the apartment. "Maybe once I've finished unpacking?"

"Yeah." Thirteen chuckled. "I'd be glad to come and help out again, by the way. Like I said, I had a good time tonight."

Cameron wrinkled her nose. "I could use the help." She admitted. "It'll take me ages by myself." She looked at Thirteen carefully. "You're sure you don't mind?"

Thirteen shook her head. "Not at all. I'll come again tomorrow."

Cameron looked surprised. "Really? Wow. Thank you."

"The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can go out for those celebratory drinks." Thirteen winked and finished her beer. "Now, however, I need to get some sleep." She stood up.

Cameron followed her to the door and gave her a shy hug. "See you tomorrow, Dr. Hadley."

Thirteen rolled her eyes. "My first name is Remy."

Cameron grinned. "Ah, okay. I didn't know. Mine is Allison."

"Night then, Allison." Thirteen winked. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night, Remy. Thanks again." Cameron smiled gently.

Thirteen stepped out the door and wandered towards her scooter. Cameron watched her for a moment and then closed the door behind her, a smile on her face, shaking her head. Remy was an interesting character, that was for sure. Slowly she made her way back to the living room, stuffing paper into boxes and tidying up the pizza box and beer bottles. The apartment looked much more like a home now. Maybe the next day they could do the kitchen and she could find something other than her coffee maker and a mug so she could actually cook again.

Thirteen's thoughts were on Cameron as she drove home. She didn't know quite what to make of her. Allison seemed kind, but also extremely private – though she was evidently willing to let you in if you made the effort. The privacy aspect certainly drew Remy in. Someone private would probably be willing to respect her privacy, too. Allison could be a good friend for her to have…Or maybe more….Remy tried not to let her thoughts drift in that direction. She was pretty sure the other doctor was straight, not to mention she'd just gotten out of a serious relationship. Remy sighed. At least she had someone interesting to spend time with outside of the hospital.


	3. Girl's Night Out

"Come in!" Cameron called as she heard the knock at her door.

"Allison?" she heard Thirteen's voice filter through the apartment.

"In the bedroom!" she called again, trying to decide between two pairs of earrings. Sighing she held them up as Thirteen came in. "Which ones?" she questioned.

"Those." Thirteen pointed to the black pearls, and Cameron turned back to her mirror to hook them in. Thirteen whistled. "Nice shirt!" she exclaimed as she got a glimpse of the back of Cameron's gray silk halter.

Cameron smiled. "Thanks!" she turned back around. "So where are we going?" She looked Thirteen up and down. "Wow." Her mouth formed an 'o' as she took in Remy's skin-tight black shirt. "Can I see the back?" Thirteen turned to reveal that the back was held together by thin bars of fabric. Cameron grinned. "Nice."

"I was thinking we'd go to this bar I used to head to a lot. It's got good music, a good dance floor." Thirteen answered her previous question, quite enjoying Cameron's eyes roving over her outfit.

"Dancing, huh?" Cameron looked at the shoes beside her bed. "I think I'll go for flats, then." She replaced the heels in her closet and grabbed another pair.

"Ready?"

"Yup." Cameron grabbed her blazer off of the bed and followed Thirteen out of her bedroom.

***

"Want to play pool?" Thirteen gestured to an empty table as they sipped on drinks at the bar.

Cameron nodded, jumping off her stool, drink in hand. "Sure." She had to admit she was surprised she managed to beat Thirteen at even one of the three games they played as they proceeded to get drunk, though she happily kicked her ass at air hockey afterwards. "Want to dance with me?" she raised an eyebrow at Thirteen after sending her winning shot into her goal. The dance floor was rapidly filling up.

"As soon as we each have a new drink in hand, absolutely." Thirteen headed for the bar, dragging Cameron behind her by the hand. "I'll have a double gin and tonic." She ordered, "and this one will have…" She eyed Cameron.

"This one will have a long island iced tea." Cameron smiled at Thirteen drunkenly. "I can't even remember when I last went clubbing. No one I know will go."

"I'll always go." Thirteen squeezed her hand. "I love to dance."

***

Cameron abandoned her empty glass on a table and made her way back into the crowd of people, searching for Thirteen. "Hey, you." Hands went around her waist and she whipped about, only to find it was just the person she'd been looking for.

"Hey, Rem." Cameron smiled as Thirteen began to dance against her. Chuckling, she began to dance with the other woman, her hands drifting across Remy's bare skin as she put her arms around her.

"Remy!" a voice interrupted them as a dark haired woman approached. Cameron eyed her co-worker questioningly.

"Er…Hi." Remy seemed as confused as she was. "Do I know you?"

The other woman looked affronted. "You could say that." She eyed Cameron up and down. "Be careful with this one, she'll drop you like you're on fire." She turned back to Thirteen, grinning. "Have fun with your new girl toy." She stalked off into the crowd.

Thirteen put a hand to her forehead. "I'm so sorry." She looked up at Allison embarrassedly.

Cameron tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and put her hands back around Remy's waist. "Don't be." She pulled the other woman back into dancing. "This girl toy wants to show that bitch what's what." Thirteen looked up to find Allison grinning at her, and smiled in return.

"Thanks, Al." she turned around so her back was facing into her friend as they danced.

A couple of hours later they essentially fell out of the club, laughing. "Oh, that was fun." Cameron announced as they regained their balance.

"Yeah, it's a good place." Thirteen smiled. "I'm starved - do you want to find something to eat?"

Cameron nodded. "That would be great."

"There are a few 24 hour places around, or my house is just a few blocks away. What do you feel like?"

"Whatever you have at yours is good." Allison smiled "Besides, I haven't seen your place yet!"

Thirteen chuckled. "I think I have breakfast food or something." She took Cameron's hand. "C'mon." she led her down the street.

"Hmm…" Remy searched through her fridge. "Eggs, bacon, and toast?" she questioned.

"Yeah!" Cameron sat on her counter, watching her examine the contents of her fridge.

"Okay." Thirteen pulled the mentioned ingredients out of the fridge and set to work as Allison sat on the counter and drank a glass of water. A few minutes later they sat down to a full breakfast on Remy's couch.

"This is perfect post-dancing food." Allison grinned over at the brunette, her green eyes glowing happily. "I don't even remember when I last had this much fun in one evening."

Remy raised her eyebrows. "You spend too much time at work." She concluded jokingly.

Cameron set her half-eaten plate of food down on the coffee table and curled comfortably into Remy's couch. "We all spend too much time at work." She pointed out.

Thirteen shrugged. "I like it."

"Me too."

"Fine, we don't spend too much time at work. Happy?" Remy smiled at her partner in crime, who nodded sleepily. "Tired?"

"Yeah." Cameron yawned.

"You can stay if you want, I have extra pyjamas and stuff." Thirteen offered.

"I might take you up on that." Allison admitted as she proceeded to drift off on Remy's couch.

"I have a king-size bed." Remy pointed out.

"Wake me up when you want to get into it."

Thirteen rolled her eyes and carried both of their plates into the kitchen and returned to help Allison off her couch. "C'mon you." Cameron followed behind her sleepily as she led the way to the bedroom and found the other woman some pyjamas. Then she wandered off to brush her teeth and remove makeup, returning to find the blonde fast asleep in her bed, breathing deeply. She couldn't help but smile. "Apparently dancing tires you out." She commented to the unconscious Allison before climbing into the bed beside her. Cameron curled around her unconsciously.

Cameron woke the next morning tucked around a thin female body and wondered vaguely where she was before remembering she'd fallen asleep at Thirteen's. Closing her eyes again, she drifted back off, waking again only when she felt Remy moving beside her. "Rem?" she questioned, eyes still closed.

"Mmm hmm?" the other person in the bed returned sleepily.

"Hi."

Remy rolled over in her arms to face her. "Morning sleepyhead." Allison opened her eyes to find blue ones looking at her.

"I kind of fell asleep, huh?"

"You could say that." Remy chuckled. "'Became suddenly unconscious from exhaustion' would be a more accurate description."

Cameron smiled. "I was tired." She defended herself.

"I could tell." Remy joked. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." Cameron stretched in the warm bed, yawning.

Thirteen watched her, suddenly realising how much she would like to wake up to Allison Cameron every single morning.


	4. Surprise!

_A/N: Really short – sorry!_

Remy hated the implications of her realisation and started avoiding Allison at work. Falling for your sole straight female friend was _not_ a good idea. Better to end things now.

Allison noticed and was upset. She'd been enjoying spending time with Remy.

Finally, after several weeks, she gave up and confronted her in the locker room. "What's the problem?" she demanded, pulling her out of earshot of anyone who could overhear.

Remy avoided her gaze. "What do you mean?"

"You've avoided me ever since the night at the club." Cameron said sadly. "I thought we were having fun. What happened?"

Thirteen sighed. "I…" she felt bad lying to the other woman. "It's awkward." She admitted.

Cameron looked her in the eye. "I won't be offended."

"It's not offensive, it's just…embarrassing for me."

Cameron looked confused. "Okay…" she pondered. "Is it something to do with what that woman said at the club?" she asked.

"Er…" Remy balked. "Very vaguely, I guess."

Allison sighed. "Can you just tell me? It won't be weird, I promise. I just want to know why you're acting like I have the plague."

"I bet you're wrong on that." Remy commented under her breath. "Fine." She groaned. "I like you. Okay?" She looked at the ground, arms crossed and defensive.

Allison's eyebrows shot upwards. "Like…You're interested in me?" she asked, smiling a little.

"Yeah." Remy sighed again. "Look. It's not that I don't want to be friends, it's just you're straight. And I like you. And that's awkward."

Cameron looked at her, surprised. "I'm not straight."

Thirteen's eyes bulged slightly. "You aren't?"

Allison shook her head. "Straight women don't generally cuddle with their female friends in bed, Rem." She smirked. "Not to mention grind with them in clubs."

Remy nodded thoughtfully.

"So, can we hang out again?" Cameron questioned.

Remy smiled. "I think so, yeah."

Allison leaned forward and brushed her lips lightly against Remy's. "Good." She turned and walked away.


	5. What's a Little Sex Between Friends?

"No cases _again_?" Thirteen huffed as she walked into the room to find the table empty.

House was sitting at his desk, feet on top, playing with his game boy, and shook his head. "Nope."

Thirteen rolled her eyes and went to make coffee. "So what are we doing then?"

"Well, someone needs to do my clinic hours, and Cuddy said to send someone up to the ER. The rest of us get to play games, I guess."

"Games!" Kutner called, echoed seconds later by Taub, who pouted as he realised he'd lost.

Thirteen sighed. "I'll take the ER." At least she'd get to see Allison that way.

House put down his game briefly. "Good. Thirteen goes to the ER, Taub to the clinic, and Kutner and I will play games." He grinned triumphantly. "I love getting paid to do nothing."

Thirteen poured herself a to-go cup of coffee, and after a second of thought, poured one for Allison too.

"Late night?" House questioned, noticing her actions.

Thirteen shook her head. "If I'm going to invade Cameron's space, it seems polite to take her coffee." She pointed out.

House smirked. "Since when are you polite?"

Thirteen chose not to answer and strode out the door. Walking into the ER, she looked around for her favourite blond ponytail, finding it bent over a bed in the corner. She walked over. "Dr. Cameron." She said politely.

Cameron looked up from the teenager she was speaking with. "Dr. Hadley." She smiled. "Are you joining us up here today?"

Thirteen chuckled. "I even brought coffee." She passed Cameron her mug, earning her a grin.

"Thank you." Allison's fingers caressed hers briefly as she took the mug, making Thirteen's spin tingle. "Um, there are tons of beds full, so just grab a file and jump in."

"Can do." Thirteen smiled again and headed for the stack of files at the nursing station. Cameron's gaze followed her briefly before she turned back to her patient, placing the coffee on the bedside table.

The teenage boy in the bed grinned at her.

"What?" Cameron demanded.

"You totally like that chick." He informed her, still grinning.

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Just sit still while I sew up your arm."

It wasn't until the headache between her eyes became unbearable that Thirteen looked up at the clock and realised it was 4 pm and she hadn't eaten yet that day. Sighing, she put down the file she'd been about to start on and decided she'd better get something to eat.

"Time flies, huh?" Cameron questioned, coming up behind her.

Thirteen nodded, a yawn escaping her lips.

Cameron chuckled. "Come on, let's find something to eat." She let the nurse at the station know she could be reached on her pager and steered Thirteen out of the ER and towards the cafeteria.

Picking at the muffin in front of her, Thirteen looked up to find Cameron watching her. "Yes?" she questioned.

Cameron shook her head, smirking. "Nothing."

Thirteen sighed, giving up on the muffin and stuffing it into her empty coffee cup. "So, the other night…" she trailed off, looking at Cameron expectantly.

"Yes?" Cameron echoed her earlier question, still smirking.

Thirteen glared at her. "You're going to make me ask, aren't you?" she demanded.

Cameron didn't reply, but her green eyes said everything.

"Fine. Do you want to come over tonight?"

Cameron grinned. "I'd love to."

"I don't have food." Thirteen warned.

"I'll take care of that. Just be home after work." Cameron stood and offered a hand. "Let's go."

Cameron made her way up to Thirteen's apartment, bag of groceries in hand. She knocked quickly, and then tried the door, which was open. "It's me." She called, stepping inside.

Remy appeared from her bedroom. "Hey, Al." she said happily.

"Hi Rem." Allison wandered into the living room comfortably, setting down her bag of groceries on the coffee table.

"What are we having?" Remy questioned, her breath close by Allison's ear.

Allison turned to face her, smiling. "Cheese. Bread. Wine. I brought ingredients for salad. Nothing complicated." She moved closer.

Remy beat her to it, pulling her in so she could kiss her deeply. "Uncomplicated. I like that." She murmured as she pulled away, just a little.

"Mmm." Allison kissed her again. "I know." Her hands snuck under Remy's shirt, causing Remy to shiver.

In return she nipped her way down Allison's neckline, slowly unbuttoning the top buttons of her blouse for better access. She could make Allison shiver too.

Items of clothing disappeared as they made their way to Remy's couch.

Remy gasped as Allison's fingers entered her expertly, the blonde's warm body around her own, mouth at her neck. She kissed her roughly, nails digging into the flesh of her back as her hips rose and she wrapped her legs around Allison's waist. The other woman chuckled into her ear. "You like that do you, Rem?"

Remy moaned in response. "And here I thought you were innocent." She moved lithely against the other woman.

Allison chuckled again. "I give a good impression." She licked beads of sweat from Remy's throat.

It was a while before Remy could bring herself to stand and wander naked into her kitchen in search of a corkscrew. Allison pulled on underwear and a bra and padded after her, pushing arms into her crumpled blouse. Remy raised an eyebrow. "Nice outfit."

Allison grinned "You too."

Remy rolled her eyes and went back to the living room to pull on her own underwear and t-shirt before opening the bottle of wine. Allison searched briefly for a bowl to make the salad in as well as some other utensils.

"I like this style of dinner party." Remy commented some time later, as they sat on the couch, table pulled close, munching their way through baguettes and brie. "No dress code, no washing up…" they were both eating salad straight out of the bowl with forks, too lazy to bother with plates.

"Mmm." Allison agreed through a mouthful of food "Once again, convenient and uncomplicated is the way to go."

As it neared midnight, Allison yawned at looked at her watch. "I should go." she commented begrudgingly.

Remy shrugged. "You can stay if you want."

Allison eyed her momentarily, unsure whether it was a good idea.

After a minute, she decided: "Think your clothes will fit me?" she smirked.


	6. House Invasion

While over the next few months their relationship developed from friends with benefits to something closer to a relationship, neither doctor felt the need to discuss it – they simply let it happen, enjoying where it took them. Clothes and other personal items floated between apartments, as did they. Cameron opened her bathroom cupboard one morning and grinned to find Remy had placed an extra toothbrush beside her own. Remy had grinned the morning she pulled out her key ring to lock her door to find a key with a masking tape label saying 'Ally's apartment'. She had dropped a key to her own into Allison's palm later that day. They discovered preferences, habits, moods. Remy's personal favourite was that Allison could only sleep on the left side of the bed for unknown reasons.

Allison sighed as she heard her doorbell ring, pulling herself up from the movie they were watching and padding towards the door. Looking through the peep hole, she grumpily realised it was House drunkenly leaning against her doorframe. "What are you doing here?" she hissed as she opened the door a little. "Can't you be a _normal_ drunk and stumble _home_ at the end of the night?"

"Who is it, Al?" Thirteen's voice filtered through from the living room.

"It's House." She called back in frustration.

Steps told her that Remy was making her way over. "_House?_" she asked incredulously, coming to the door.

Allison sighed. "Help me get him inside?" she asked resignedly. Remy nodded, moving to support her boss on one side while Ally took the other.

"Should I ask why you're having a pyjama party on a work night?" House slurred, smirking as they hauled him into the living room and dumped him in a chair unceremoniously.

"You shouldn't be asking anything right now." Allison informed him. "Go to sleep."

House grumbled for a few minutes and then did just that, his snores echoing in the small apartment.

"Er…Want to finish this on my laptop?" Remy suggested – it was hard to hear the movie over House.

Allison sighed again and leaned her head on Remy's shoulder. "Yeah." They made their way into the bedroom and snuggled into Ally's bed, resuming the movie.

Loud crashing noises from the kitchen woke them the next morning. Allison stomped into the living room to find House making his way through her kitchen cupboards. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded angrily. Warmness by her side told her Remy had followed her.

"Looking for your coffee." House replied without turning around.

Ally groaned. "It's right here." Remy went over and pointed out the container next to the coffee machine labelled 'Coffee'.

House looked at her in surprise. "I thought I remembered you being here last night." His eyes flicked between the two women and a grin spread across his face. "You're sleeping together!" he crowed happily.

Remy rolled her eyes at him and proceeded to set up the coffee machine. "There. Coffee is on its way. Can you try and keep it down? There are two hours before our alarm goes off. The TV has cable." She turned around and made her way back into the bedroom, guiding Ally and leaving an interested House behind her. "He is _so_ frustrating." She sighed as she climbed back into the bed beside Ally, wrapping herself around the blonde's warmth.

"Always has been, always will be." Ally agreed sleepily as she drifted back off. A murmuring from the living room told Remy that House had managed to find the remote.

They both shot upright as the bedroom door slammed open some time later. House turned on the light. "You aren't having sex." He pointed out disappointedly.

Thirteen gritted her teeth. "We _were_ sleeping. It's something normal people do."

Cameron looked at House in shock. "What if we had been naked?" she questioned.

House grinned. "That would have made my morning." He turned the light back out. "You still have an hour." He informed them, closing the door and retreating.

"I'm going to beg Cuddy to ship him to some foreign hospital where he can't bother me any more." Ally moaned as she pulled the covers back over her head.

Remy sighed. "Works for me."

Lisa Cuddy paused in shock as she watched Drs. Cameron, Hadley, and House walk into the lobby together. She marched over quickly. "Why…" she broke off as she saw the irate look on Cameron's usually tranquil face. Instead she turned to House, who looked jubilant. "What did you do?" she demanded.

"Nothing" Was House's standard response.

"He arrived at Cameron's drunk at 10:30 last night, passed out, woke us up at 5 am trying to make coffee and then again at 6 am to find out if we were having sex." Thirteen informed her, looking disgruntled.

"Which they weren't." House put in grumpily.

Cuddy hid a smile. She realised it must have been frustrating for the two women – she had noticed how hard they worked to keep their relationship hidden, but it was hard not to see humour in the situation from her point of view. She cleared her throat. "House. Go to work. You two, come to my office please." The two women followed, happy for an escape from House.

"Al, you look like you're about to explode." Remy raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend. "Take deep breaths."

Ally stepped forward, addressing Cuddy. "Can I get some sort of restraining order on him that applies only outside of the hospital?" she questioned sarcastically.

Cuddy chuckled. "Not as far as I know, but if you find one, let me know." She examined the two frustrated women in front of her. "Look, I know you two go to great lengths to keep your relationship private, and I respect that even if House doesn't. As far as I know, I was the only person who had noticed prior to last night." She sighed. "I doubt you'll be able to keep House from saying anything, but you've both had a lot of experience with his…less than appropriate comments. I'm sure with enough sarcasm and eye rolling you can keep anyone else from figuring out he's serious."

Thirteen nodded. "Usually works."

Ally said nothing, still looking like a storm cloud was following her around.

"Er..Well, that's it then." Cuddy smiled at each of them. "See you later."

The two women turned and made their way out of her office. "Allison, you need to calm down." Remy rubbed her arm gently.

Ally glowered. "Why should I? He's an asshole." She looked at Remy's earnest expression. "I just don't like other people invading my privacy." She sighed.

Remy shrugged. "Me neither, but its House. Since when does he care?"

Ally snorted. "True." She sighed again, reaching out to squeeze Remy's hand. "I should get to the ER."

"And I should go deal with my boss."

"Mine again tonight?" Ally asked tentatively. "I still have groceries."

Remy nodded. "Meet you in the lobby."

They went their separate ways.


	7. Fall Into Darkness

Remy arrived home to blasting music. "Al?" she called, removing her shoes. Allison was running flat out on the tread mill and obviously hadn't noticed her presence. Remy turned down the music slightly and Ally looked up, lowering her speed to more of a job.

"Hi, Rem. How's the case going?"

"The usual arguments. Was the ER busy?"

Ally nodded. "I needed some stress relief." She gestured to the treadmill.

"You have an interesting concept of stress relief." Remy raised her eyebrows. "I go drinking or eat ridiculous amounts of chocolate."

Ally grinned. "Well, I did pick up a bottle of wine on the way home."

"Excellent." Remy shared her smile. "What do you feel like for dinner?"

Allison pondered this for a moment. "We definitely have veggies and pasta sauce. So how about pasta?"

"Cool. How much longer you gonna run for?"

"Just a few more minutes, then I'll hop in the shower. Want to come?" Ally wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I think I might." Remy winked and proceeded to pour herself a glass of wine and investigate the food situation while Ally finished her run. She managed to locate an onion and some broccoli that could go in the sauce. She wrinkled her nose as Ally came up behind her and wrapped sweaty arms around her waist. "Ew, sweaty Allison." She joked, turning to kiss her red-faced girlfriend.

"Gross, I know." Ally smiled. "So how about that shower? Unless you're starving." She indicated the veggies on the counter.

Remy shook her head. "Just seeing what we had." She took Ally's hand. "Let's go."

Ally moaned as Remy's soapy body slid over hers. They were lying in her tub, hot water from the shower cascading over them. Remy had learned quickly that in Ally's world, sex could happen anywhere. She loved the spontaneity. Ally nibbled her ear lobe. "I love showers." She murmured, her hands becoming tangled in Remy's wet hair as she attacked her lips again. Remy giggled and pushed her fingers into the blonde, eliciting another moan.

"Me too." She sucked Ally's nipple delicately, not minding the faint taste of rose soap that followed. Her fingers worked expertly, and she could feel the crash of Ally's hips against her own. Ally's nails raked her shoulders.

"_Fuck_, Rem." Ally gasped, her back arching. She was close to coming, Remy knew. She moved her own lips back to Ally's, nipping at her lips before Ally's tongue plunged into her mouth. They moved in time, Ally's arms shifting to wrap around her. _"Fuck_!" Ally moaned again as she came. Remy grinned. Ally lay breathing heavily, content. Remy kissed her more tenderly. Ally looked up with her with bright green eyes made dark with pleasure. "You're amazing." She murmured gently.

"You're pretty great yourself." Remy kissed her again. "Now shall we finish this shower?"

Ally nodded. "In a minute." She lay for another few minutes before sitting up beside Remy. "I think I have bruises." She laughed as they stood up.

"Mmm…I could just go to sleep." Ally lay on the bed, still wrapped in her towel.

Remy chuckled. "There's wine." She tempted. "And food…once we make it, anyway."

Ally nodded and rolled over, grabbing a tank top and pulling over her head. Not at all gracefully, she stood and rubbed her hair dry with the towel, wandering over to wrap her arms around Remy, head leaning against her shoulder. Remy put down her hairbrush. "I love you, Al." she murmured.

"I love you too, babe." Ally kissed her cheek gently and went in search of pants, a smile on her face.

They spent their evening, as most evenings, laying lazily on the couch watching t.v. and drinking wine. Days were so frantic it was hard to find the will to force themselves to do anything else. Neither cared. They were happy this way.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" They had both scheduled the day off.

"Sleep in." Remy replied sleepily, yawning.

Ally laughed. "And breakfast, of course."

"Of course." Remy agreed. "And maybe…biking by the river?"

"If it's sunny."

"And if it isn't?" Remy played with Allison's hair absently.

"Something lazy." Ally decided. "Though we need to buy groceries at some point."

"Kay."

They awoke to brilliant sunshine, and so followed their first plan of action. Blueberry pancakes and coffee preceded a long bike ride along the river and then laying in the sun at the park. They went to Remy's afterwards, to shower and change before heading for the grocery store in search of food.

"Morning lesbian." Was House's greeting as she entered Diagnostics the next morning. Remy chose to ignore him and aim for the coffee maker. House was much more bearable post-caffeine. "What? No answer?" he jibed.

Kutner entered the room and smiled to see her at the coffee maker. "Thank God you're back." He said sincerely.

Remy turned to face him, surprised. "I was only gone one day!"

"Do you know how long a day can be without decent coffee?" he asked sadly.

She shrugged. "I don't understand how the workings of the coffee maker manage to continue to elude you all."

"It's a male curse?" he offered.

"I guess." She replied dubiously.

"You're back!" Taub entered the room, smiling like he hadn't seen Thirteen in months.

She deadpanned. "Let me guess – coffee?"

He nodded happily, leaving Remy to shake her head in disbelief.

"We have a case." House announced from his chair.

"Thank God, it's been ages." Remy poured herself a cup of coffee and sat on the edge of the table.

"Don't we get some?" Kutner whined.

"Get your own!" Remy retorted. "You're a big boy."

"You're snappy this morning." House informed her, grinning. "Cameron not giving you enough sex?"

Remy rolled her eyes. "You said we had a case?"

"Yeah." House chucked three files on his desk. Remy stepped forward to grab one. "Twenty-one year old female. Headaches, nausea, and memory blanks. Sometimes wakes to intolerable pain all over her body."

"Sounds like epilepsy. Lots of people only have seizures at night." Remy put in.

House shook his head. "EEG's normal."

"Migraine's would explain everything except the pain in the rest of her body." Taub pointed out.

"Unfortunately, that's still one of her symptoms." House rolled his eyes.

"Some other kind of nervous system disorder? It doesn't look like they explored much beyond doing an EEG." Thirteen flipped through the file.

And so the differential continued.

Remy yawned as she walked into the doctor's lounge. Her shift had been meant to end two hours before, but she'd had to stay, the patient's condition worsening. Right now all she wanted was some coffee and a quick nap while she waited for test results. She didn't look around the empty room as she pulled out her phone to text Allison, telling her she'd be way later than planned, so it came as a surprise when she saw a large being move in the corner of her vision. The last thing she remembered as she whipped around was falling and hearing the crack of her head on a glass table.

Then everything went black.


	8. Pain on Waking

She moaned as she came to, surrounded by broken glass as pain ran rampant through every limb of her body. She tried to lift her left arm but found it hurt too much and instead used her right to feel up to where blood oozed out of the back of her skull. She wondered vaguely if she could pull herself to the door without blacking out. Her attempt at movement answered the question for her as she slid back into unconsciousness.

"Remy?" Remy tried desperately to grasp onto Allison's frantic voice, to tell her that everything was all right, that she didn't need to worry. Then a world of pain descended on her again and she knew it wasn't true. She moaned gently, allowing herself to fall back into the darkness where things wouldn't hurt anymore.

"He was found with blood all over him." Was that Cuddy?

"The mental patient?" Remy recognised the voice as House's .

"That's how we found her. We knew he'd attacked someone." Definitely Cuddy.

"He didn't just _attack_ her." The morose voice in the corner was Allison's. "How could he get so far from the ward with no-one noticing?" The question was left unanswered. Remy wondered vaguely what it meant. Her pain seemed more distant now, detached somehow.

"Al?" the whimper didn't sound like her.

"Rem?" she felt a hand on her forehead moments later.

Remy tried to open her eyes and found the light blinding. "Too light." She murmured.

"Turn out the lights?" Ally's voice requested "It's too bright for her." Remy heard the flick of a switch and tried again. Allison snapped on the bedside lamp and directed it at the wall.

"What happened to me?" Remy's voice came out thin, barely there as she looked up at Allison. Her eyes were red from crying, and tears began to trickle down her cheeks again. "Allison?"

Ally took a deep breath. "A mental patient escaped from the psych ward." She explained gently. "He was hiding in the doctor's lounge when you went in. Do you remember?"

"No."

"He attacked you and…" Ally's voice cracked as she started to cry harder. Remy squeezed her hand.

"What?" she questioned, needing to know what was hurting Ally so much.

House sat down on the bed beside her. "He raped you." He told her with surprising gentleness, looking her straight in the eyes.

Remy was silent for a moment, trying to take in what had just happened. Her head was throbbing. "How…Are you sure?" she asked finally.

House nodded and looked away. "We found you with your pants around your ankles." He said quietly.

"I'm so sorry." Ally sobbed helplessly from beside the bed. Remy lifted a bandaged hand to pet her hair lightly.

"Shhh." Remy tried to calm her down. Or maybe calm herself down. She wasn't sure. Focusing on other things made it easier. She looked up at House and Cuddy. "What injuries do I have?"

Cuddy swallowed. "Lots of lacerations. You fell through a glass table. Also a lot of bruising. Nothing was broken. You have a pretty bad concussion, so we'll want to keep you here for a few days to keep an eye on that. As to internal injuries…" Remy closed her eyes again. "We'll need to do a rape kit."

"Why?" Remy asked bitterly. "You already know it happened and who did it."

"In case you want to press charges." Allison looked up at her from beside the bed, her eyes full of anger on Remy's behalf.

"He's a psych patient. Clearly not in possession of his mental faculties." House pointed out. "You'd have to sue the hospital for negligence."

"I don't want to sue anyone." Remy murmured quietly. "I don't want to do the rape kit."

"You might change your mind." Cuddy told her gently.

Remy sighed. "I really just want to forget it happened."

Cuddy nodded. "Alright." She looked at Ally. "I just want to test her neurological responses and then we'll give you two some time alone."

"Okay." Ally squeezed Remy's hand and let go, backing away from the bed to give Cuddy better access. The tests didn't take long and then Cuddy and House exited, saying they'd check in soon.

Ally looked at her in silence, not really knowing where to start or what to say. Remy patted the bed beside her. "Hold me?" she asked. Ally nodded, tears threatening again as she helped gently shift Remy sideways so she could climb onto the bed beside her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered again into Remy's ear. Remy squeezed her arm before drifting off again.

While she wouldn't let Cuddy do the rape kit, she did ask her to do a brief exam to check if there was a lot of damage. She didn't want to have to ask Ally.

Two days later she was discharged. Cuddy told her to take as much time as she wanted or needed. Ally went on leave too, so she wouldn't have to be alone.

As the weeks went by, her bruises faded and her cuts healed. Her constant headache disappeared and she could finally concentrate again. She was glad she had no memory beyond the figure in the darkness – even that haunted her dreams. She and Ally watched movies, took walks, even laughed sometimes. She liked that Ally didn't push her into anything, but just let her take as long as she needed to heal. Despite everything, she found herself wanting to return to the hospital. To work. To keep herself busy.

Ally was surprised when Remy told her, but she understood the need to be busy. She'd done the same after her husband died. Thrown herself into school, activities, whatever she could. They scheduled shifts together.

And so it was, that a month and a half after her attack, Remy returned to PPTH and made another realisation: she hadn't had a period since she'd been raped.


	9. Disappearing in the Shadow

She pulled over at a pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test on her way home.

She peed on the stick and waited, silently, for the inevitable blue line to appear. When it did she curled into her knees, covering her head with her arms. She couldn't even cry.

Ally found her there a couple of hours later when she got home from the hospital. "Wha…What happened?" she rushed over to the couch. Remy gestured to the test with its bright blue line. "Oh my God." Allison whispered. "Rem…" she sank down beside her girlfriend and Remy collapsed into her lap. Ally ran fingers through her hair.

Neither of them knew what to say.

The options raced through Remy's mind. She found, in the end, there was only one she could see playing out. "I don't want to keep it." She turned in Allison's lap so she faced upward, looking at Ally's face, waiting for judgement. None came.

Ally nodded. "Okay."

Remy couldn't keep the surprise from showing on her face. "You're okay with that?"

Ally shrugged. "What am I supposed to say? It wasn't your choice but you should keep it anyway? You should have a child with a 50 percent chance of having Huntington's and who was created by a mental patient?" she stroked Remy's face gently. "I'd have supported whatever decision you made, Rem, but it's your body. It's your life."

Remy nodded quietly. "Yeah." She whispered.

A week later it was done, leaving Remy to ponder what might have been. The being inside her removed with a scalpel just as violently as the manner in which it had been brought into existence. She knew she'd made the right choice. Even if she'd given the child up for adoption after birth, she wouldn't have been comfortable bringing it into the world with so many negative likelihoods in its future and a burden of violence on it's past. She would have hated it as she carried it inside her, though it was just as much of a victim as she. She could never have been a mother. It wasn't in her.

They took a few more days off of work, just enough for Remy to recover. Allison wanted her to take more, but Remy couldn't stand to be inside her head anymore. She needed to escape from the horrors that had affected her over the last couple of months. Work was the way she chose, her self-destructive tendencies surprisingly subdued.

Her silence had frightened Ally, and she could see the relief on the blonde woman's features as she began to come alive again little by little, to open up. It didn't happen quickly. Remy's past had contained a huge amount of grief, but she'd never felt this disconnected from her feelings before. It was like living in a dream world. Nothing seemed real.

Allison tried to help her in any way she could – just being there seemed to bring the most comfort. For a long time Remy didn't want to talk. Ally worked her schedule around Remy's, so she could drive her to and from work, so she could be there whenever she was needed. Many evenings they'd simply sit on the couch, Remy's head in Ally's lap or vice versa, Remy lost in thought, Allison reading or watching a movie.

Neither of them knew what to do.


	10. The Bright Side

_A/N: Gonna go back and make a few grammatical/minor changes in previous chapters based on recommendations/errors I've noticed while re-reading. Nothing that really changes the tone of the story at all though, so no worries!_

Allison came back from her run to find Remy asleep on the couch and smiled. She looked so peaceful when she slept, so different from the lost look that sometimes still entered her eyes when she was awake. Leaving Remy be, she went to have a shower.

"Hey, you." Allison leaned down to kiss Remy gently. The brunette shifted sleepily.

"Al." She smiled, leaning in for another kiss. "How long was I out?"

Allison chuckled. "A while, I think."

"Mmm." Remy yawned, sitting up to make room for her girlfriend on the couch, then lay back down across Ally's lap.

Ally chuckled. "You're like a cat or something."

"You're warm!" Remy protested.

"And I was joking." Ally leaned in to kiss her again, adjusting herself to make the position more comfortable.

"I know." Remy smiled, kissing her way down Allison's neck. She liked these moments, when they returned to their old banter and she could just forget.

"Mmm." Ally murmured, closing her eyes and lying down completely beside Remy on the couch.

Slowly, Remy took Allison's hand and guided it to the waistband of the scrubs she was wearing.

Ally paused. She hadn't been inside Remy since… "Are you sure?" she asked, searching Remy's blue eyes with her own.

Remy nodded. "Yeah." It was time to move on.

"Tell me if you change…" Remy silenced her with a kiss. Ally chuckled. "Okay."

And so she made love to Remy for the first time in months as they lay there on her couch with the evening sunshine filtering in through the blinds.

Allison walked into the ER to find Foreman sitting on a gurney, a gauze pad held to a long gash in his arm. "Cameron, could you help me out?" He asked, pain evident in his voice.

"What happened?" she asked, concerned as she made her way over to the bed, removing the gauze to take a look.

"House tripped me." He said by way of explanation.

"Right." Cameron rolled her eyes, cleaning out the cut. "Well, I don't think you need stitches, but tell House he's an idiot."

"Think I got that one handled." Foreman examined her quietly as she worked on bandaging him up. "So how are things with you and Remy?" he asked tentatively.

Cameron jerked up, surprised. It wasn't a question people asked her…well, ever. "Good." She smiled gently. "They're good." Foreman good see by her glow that she wasn't lying.

"I'm glad." He eyed her quietly. "I'm glad she had someone there for her after…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence, and cleared his throat. "She seems to be doing well."

Cameron nodded slowly. "She is." She stuck a last piece of tape in place and smiled up at him. "There you go."

"Thanks." He stood as Cameron cleared up and removed her gloves. "See you around." He turned to leave the ER.

"See you." Cameron's eyes followed him as he left. She'd never really made friends with Foreman while working for House – in fact, she'd thought he was an arrogant dick, but he seemed nice enough now she didn't have to work in close proximity. He cared enough to ask, which was more than anyone besides Cuddy did due to the delicacy of the subject. Sighing, she picked up her coffee and took a sip, grabbing a stack of files.

"Foreman asked after you today." Allison commented as she and Remy stood side by side, chopping up vegetables for a stir fry.

Remy looked surprised. "Seriously?" she paused in her chopping.

Ally nodded. "Just wanted to know how you're doing."

Remy resumed her cutting. "And obviously the logical thing to do wouldn't be to ask me or anything." She grumbled.

Ally smiled. "I think he was attempting to be subtle and avoid awkwardness, actually."

Remy chuckled. "Yeah, I doubt he's big on awkward situations." Her eyes twinkled at Ally.

"I think it's nice he cares." Allison dumped her onion into the hot oil.

"I guess." Remy sniffed. "I think it's a bit intrusive, personally. I'd rather he have asked me."

"He knew you'd blow him off." Ally pointed out.

"Yeah" Remy sighed. "I just…wish so many people didn't know what happened, you know?"

Allison smiled sadly. "Yeah, I do. Privacy isn't exactly rampant at the hospital."

Remy snorted and poured some more veggies into the wok. "No, it isn't." she took a sip of her wine as she stirred the dish, smiling as Ally's arms snuck around her. "Don't burn yourself."

"I won't." Allison murmured into her hair.

"That's what you said when you tried to get the pizza out of the oven without gloves on." Remy pointed out jokingly, and felt Ally grin into her neck. She put down the spoon and turned around to face the other woman, drawing her face up for a kiss. She enjoyed seeing the brighter side of things again.


End file.
